Originally built as a private residence by Brigadier General Robert Young of the Washington D.C. militia, the property was purchased in 1828 by Isaac Franklin and John Armfield when Young’s finances took a bad turn and he was forced to sell. The two men turned the home into a prison, adding an extension with high walls, interior chambers, and other features designed to hold enslaved people. The property on Duke Street grew to become the largest trading firm of enslaved people in the United States. Franklin left the business in…
